How Quality Erectors & Construction Eliminated Manual Processes, Saving $100,000

Quality Erectors & Construction, Inc (QEC) adopted Clearstory as their Change Order Communication platform to document labor, material, equipment in the field and convert it to pricing the same day. The productivity savings they've realized are over $100,000 per year!

We sat down with QEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Ethan Law, to discuss how Clearstory improved their Change Order process, captured lost revenue, and reduced administrative costs.

For over 35 years, QEC has serviced Northern California in the design, supply, and erection of pre-engineered metal buildings, metal roofing, architectural paneling, and structural steel.

Results Using Clearstory

Saves 16 hours per week in improved productivity
85% faster change order processing
Eliminated lost revenue from previous Change Order/T&M processes

The Challenge

QEC was using multiple project management programs and Excel to keep track of Change Order Requests, which created communication difficulties because cost information was not kept in one place. All cost information had to be entered and communicated manually, which resulted in lower than desired productivity. Additionally, Time and Material (T&M) Tags were often lost, sitting in a foreman’s truck, or rejected due to poor documentation, resulting in lost revenue.

"Clearstory allows us to capture costs that we had previously lost out on. Now we capture those costs in a timely fashion that gives us unmatched professionalism in the construction industry."

Ethan Law
CEO, Quality Erectors & Construction, Inc.

Enter Clearstory

Implementing Clearstory on their projects resulted in immediate improvements for QEC, Inc. by eliminating lost revenue, increasing productivity, and decreasing processing time.

Eliminating Lost Revenue

One of the biggest impacts QEC realized was the ability to efficiently track and collect payment on cost impacts that were previously lost in the paper process. Clearstory allows them to instantly create and submit T&M Tags electronically with real time visibility back in the office eliminating the potential for lost or delayed revenue.

Improved Productivity and Reduced Administrative Costs

QEC also improved administrative productivity in their Change Order process by using Clearstory. Clearstory allows contractors to preload labor and equipment rates so CORs can be priced instantly. Now, when Change Orders are created, the costs are calculated and CORs are submitted in a few minutes vs the days (or weeks) it could previously take to process a paper tag.

The cost savings are substantial as well. The average rate for his Project Managers is $125/hour, and he estimates that each PM saves 4 hours per week using Clearstory, totaling over $100,000 in savings annually.

"We’re saving over $100,000 annually just in tracking our changes. On top of that, we’re also seeing the return on investment for actually tracking costs that we were previously losing in the paper shuffle."

– Ethan Law, CEO, Quality Erectors & Construction, Inc.

Faster Change Order Processing & Approvals

QEC has decreased change order processing by 85% with Clearstory's automated workflows. Several steps such as manually updating change order logs and transporting T&M tags have been eliminated completely with Clearstory and data is no longer manually transferred between the field and office. The ability to share cost impacts for out of scope work on the same day work occurs in lieu of weeks later along with improved documentation quality have led to faster change order approvals for QEC.